In 2012 Theresa May, then Home Secretary, announced a new approach to immigration: to make Britain a “hostile environment” for people who have “no right to be here”.

The introduction of compulsory ID checks in hospitals, is just one element. The plan is to make it even tougher for people under immigration rules to get a job, rent a flat, use a bank, drive a car, get medical treatment, send kids to school, or otherwise live a normal life.

The rationale, more or less, is: ‘if the government can’t actually seal tight the external borders, it can push unwanted “illegals” to leave, or deter others from coming in the first place, by making it near impossible to live a normal life.’

In October 2013, announcing the parliamentary bill that was to become the 2014 Act, Theresa May declared that its aim was: “to create a really hostile environment for illegal migrants”.

In the formal language of the act itself, the main aim is to “limit … access to services, facilities and employment by reference to immigration status”.

The Immigration Act 2016 made these measures harsher still, and added some new ones. However, in many areas the new policies and interventions do not involve new legislation, but internal changes in policy or approach by the Home Office and other government departments. Some of these are formalised in protocols, guidance documents, and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperation between agencies. Others are informal shifts in practice.

Other pushbacks include nobankborders and UnisresistBorders also challenging the policy within banks and universities.

This is the story of Razan Alsous, founder of Yorkshire Dama Cheese. Razan is a Syrian refugee who arrived in Britain less than three years ago. In this short space of time, she has been strengthening the UK economy through her Huddersfield based Halloumi cheese factory. read more

Chris Johnson speaks to the West Yorkshire Racial Justice Network telling us the story of an African migrant and how she – despite all the odds – makes a positive contribution to life in Britain.
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With the first week of the general election campaign behind us there are hopefully signs that this time around immigration might get a fairer hearing from voters. We are determined to amplify the grass-roots messages through Our Vote campaign which allows everyone to write to their parliamentary candidates asking them to bring back fairness into immigration. read more

A new PhD on the rise and fall of race equality in New Labour’s Britain. The research demonstrates how modern multiculture has fractured Black political identity and anti-racist activity, and calls on race equality organisers to engage with the new politics of racism, discrimination and ethnic identification in order to build a new counter-politics for equality. read more